---
title: "Sugar Glider"
description: "Petaurus breviceps — Säugetiere. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/de/animal/sugar-glider
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Sugar Glider

> Petaurus breviceps — Säugetiere. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum.

- Scientific name: *Petaurus breviceps*
- Category: `mammals` (Säugetiere)
- Habitats: `forest` (Wald), `zoo` (Zoo & Haustiere)
- iNaturalist observations: 1189
- iNaturalist taxon: [1472419](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1472419)

## Names

- en: Sugar Glider
- es: Falangero Planeador del Azúcar

## Countries with the most observations

AU (926)

## Summary

The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel. They have very similar habits and appearance to the flying squirrel, despite not being closely related—an example of convergent evolution. The scientific name, Petaurus breviceps, translates from Latin as "short-headed rope-dancer", a reference to their canopy acrobatics.
The sugar glider is characterised by its pair of gliding membranes, known as patagia, which…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider

## Photo

![Sugar Glider](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/sugar-glider/medium.jpg)

Photo: Kelana Arraiza · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144721315

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/sugar-glider?lang=de` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).